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Author James Spada on his new pictorial biography of former President Ronald Reagan

February 6, 2001
11:45 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- Ronald Reagan celebrated his 90th birthday on February 6. Since leaving the White House, he has fought against Alzheimer's disease and has endured surgery for a broken hip. With an election just behind them and the popular former president's birthday dawning, the attention of the American people focuses on the legacy of Reagan's years in the public eye.

James Spada is the author of "Ronald Reagan: His Life in Pictures." A well-known biographer and accomplished photographer, Spada has written biographies on many famous figures such as Princess Grace and Betty Davis, and pictorial biographies of Jackie Onassis and Marilyn Monroe.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to CNN.com, James Spada. Thank you for being with us today.

James Spada: I'd like to say good morning to everyone. Thank you for coming to the room.

Chat Moderator: Ronald Reagan was a popular two-term president. What did the public find so appealing about this man?

James Spada: Ronald Reagan seemed an amiable, warm, friendly person, and I think the American people really responded to that.

Chat Moderator: Has President Reagan crossed the threshold from historical figure into legend and myth?

James Spada: There was always a mythic quality to him, partly because of his years in Hollywood, but also because, even as president, he had a larger-than-life quality. There was a quality to Ronald Reagan of riding in on the horse to save the town.

Question from chat room: What is your greatest memory of Reagan, as a leader of this country?

James Spada: I think I was most impressed by the fact that the Iranian leaders released the 42 hostages they had held for over a year on the very day of Reagan's inauguration. I think that gave the American people a lot of hope that things would be different under this new president. That's a tough question.

Question from chat room: What is the decisive moment in Reagan's life?

James Spada: I don't know if I can choose one moment, but certainly a period when he was president of the Screen Actors' Guild in Hollywood. That was the point at which he first became an anti-Communist because the communists were trying to infiltrate the labor union of which he was the president. Even as president of the United States, when he was negotiating with the Soviet Union, he told an aide, "I still have the scars in my back from when I was dealing with the communists in Hollywood."

Question from chat room: Mr. Spada, what was Reagan's true religious conviction?

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James Spada: Another interesting question. Reagan was a man who was not overtly religious, who didn't necessarily go to church every Sunday, but who had a deep belief in God. Actually, he said that his belief in an Almighty was strengthened after the assassination attempt on his life.

Chat Moderator: As you examined the photographs that spanned several decades for your book, what aspect of President Reagan's personality appeared most consistently?

James Spada: You know, there are 350 photographs in the book and most are unpublished; they go from the age of 9 months to eighty-nine years. I think, if there's one consistent theme, it's Reagan's optimism. Jane Wyman, his first wife, said that one of the things she loved about him was his sunny disposition. He once said of his mother that she had a talent for happiness, and I think that would describe Ronald Reagan, as well.

Chat Moderator: From all accounts, the Reagans have had a very close marriage. How influential do you believe Nancy was during Reagan's presidential years?

James Spada: I think Nancy was influential throughout their entire marriage. She supported him and protected him against any threat, real or imagined. And I, personally, don't feel that he would necessarily have aspired to something as grand as the presidency without Nancy constantly encouraging him.

Question from chat room: Mr. Spada, do you think the American people have gained respect for Mrs. Reagan by seeing how she has dealt with President Reagan's illness?

James Spada: I think there's no question about it. One of the criticisms of Nancy Reagan was that she was self-centered and interested mostly in her own image, for instance. But now, she has devoted her life to caring for her ailing husband, and I think that has generated a lot of sympathy for her.

Question from chat room: James Spada, why do you believe President and Nancy Reagan are not close to most of their own children, despite the public perceiving him as a warm and caring man?

James Spada: Reagan himself gave a clue about that when he said it was his own father's alcoholism that caused him to shut himself down emotionally and to make it difficult for people to get close to him on a one-to-one basis. So, as close as he was to Nancy, he never developed that same closeness with his own children. Also, his oldest daughter Maureen and his adopted son Michael were raised by Jane Wyman after the divorce.

Question from chat room: Do you think the failed assassination attempt helped endear Reagan to the American public?

James Spada: Yes, I think so. Whenever you almost lose a president like that, you come to value him more. And Reagan, again, had such a positive outlook on it. You know, he was joking even as they wheeled him into the operating room. That endeared him to a lot of people.

Question from chat room: What did Reagan consider his greatest failure as president?

James Spada: He has said that his greatest regret as president was sending the Marines to Lebanon to keep the peace because, as we know, hundreds of them lost their lives when their barracks were bombed. But Reagan also agreed with his critics that the Iran-Contra Affair was the low point of his presidency. He said it was the first time in his career that people felt they couldn't believe what he was telling them.

Question from chat room: The official announcement of Reagan's Alzheimer's came on the Friday before the election in November 1994, even though it had been known for a long time. Can't that be viewed as a cynical attempt to sway public opinion right before the election?

James Spada: I don't have any first hand information about that. But I think that it's kind of a stretch because sympathy for Ronald Reagan wouldn't necessarily have helped Bob Dole win votes.

Question from chat room: Can you put in perspective what impact Ronald Reagan had in ending communism in the former Soviet Union?

James Spada: I think he had a great impact. He really made the Soviet Union respect -- and in many ways fear -- the United States. Also, he was really a strong moral leader in condemning what he called "the Evil Empire." Other presidents had challenged communism, but there was something about Ronald Reagan and his persistence in denigrating the entire communist philosophy that encouraged those who were trying to overthrow the communists. Countries such as Poland, which was really the first of the Soviet Block nations, just threw out the communist party. That was the beginning of the break up of the Soviet Union.

Question from chat room: Mr. Spada, how is President Reagan's recovery coming along?

James Spada: I think the recovery is coming slowly. It's difficult for a man that age to recover from a broken bone; of course, it's complicated by the Alzheimer's disease. But he's also in better physical condition than a lot of men his age. As Nancy has put it, he's doing as well as can be expected.

Question from chat room: How is Mr. Reagan's daughter Maureen doing now? Is she out of the hospital?

James Spada: As far as I know, she is still in the hospital. I just learned she was too weak to visit him when he was in the hospital, even though they were in the same hospital together. I really haven't heard anything recently about the progress of her recovery.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us today?

James Spada: I'd just like to say I tried hard in this book to present very rare and unseen photographs that really reflected Reagan the man, as well as Reagan the president. And I think that anyone interested in Ronald Reagan will get a lot of new insights about him from the text and the photographs in this book.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, James Spada.

James Spada: Thank you for very good questions, and I enjoyed chatting with you today.

James Spada joined the chat via telephone from CNN's New York Bureau, and CNN provided a typist for him. The above is an edited transcript of the chat on Tuesday, February 6, 2001.



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